Royal Canadian Air Force
Arnold Graham was born in Lakefield, Ontario, on 12 December 1925 to Isaiah Graham and Karen Marie “Clara” Rasmussen. His father died in 1931 of a brain tumor, leaving Clara to care for twelve children at their Nelson Street home. As the youngest, Arnold was raised with the help of his older siblings.
Arnold made it to grade ten before dropping out of school. As a teen, he worked as a carpentry assistant for the Peterborough Canoe Company, as a fitter and burner with the Canadian General Electric Company in Peterborough, and as a burner and welder’s helper in Toronto Shipyards. He played sports including hockey, curling, skiing, baseball, and golf. He also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and being outdoors in his spare time.
Arnold recalled hearing the news that the Second World War had broken out when he was visiting his six brothers in Timmins, Ontario, where they worked as miners. As the war progressed, he watched six of his brothers join the armed forces. On 2 December 1942, just days before his 17th birthday, he enlisted with the 2nd Reserve Battalion, Prince of Wales Rangers, and was assigned to D Company.
Not yet 18, Arnold asked his mother for a letter of permission to join the active force. She was reluctant, but he explained that he wanted to help his brothers get home a little sooner. He threatened to run away and find a way to join regardless of her support. She reluctantly obliged.He was released from the reserves on 8 May 1943 and began his search for active service shortly afterwards.
While in Toronto, Arnold and a couple of friends, including Lakefield resident Clarence Coons, attempted to enlist with the Royal Canadian Navy in the fall of 1943. The boys were waitlisted. Not willing to postpone, he immediately signed up with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) at No. 11 Recruiting Centre in Toronto on 4 November. He was told that the Air Force was looking for aircrew and agreed to fill a flying position. He was later assigned to train as an air gunner. As an avid hunter, he understood guns, had decent aim, and thought he might be a good fit for the position.
Arnold was sent to No. 5 Manning Depot in Lachine, Quebec. During training, he received a letter from the Navy, stating they were now willing to accept his enlistment. Naval service was no longer an option considering he was already in the middle of training with the Air Force. He was taken on strength at No. 1 Manning Depot, Toronto, on 6 December 1943. The manning depot was a large reception center that processed new recruits by conducting basic training, medical examinations, and initial assessments for their future roles. Here, he stayed at the repurposed Horse Palace Barracks, where two men slept per horse stall.
Arnold was sent to Central Technical School in Toronto for further training on 10 December 1943. He was taken on strength with the Service Flying Training School at St. Hubert, Québec, on 24 January 1944, before proceeding to the Bombing & Gunnery School at Mont Joli, Québec, on 11 February, where he learned specific air gunner skills while flying in Fairey Battle planes.
While Arnold was completing his training, his spiky, porcupine-like haircut earned him the nickname “Porky” which stuck for life. Arnold was promoted to Leading Aircraftman and qualified as an Air Gunner on 25 March 1944. On 5 May, he was awarded an Air Gunners Badge and promoted to the rank of sergeant.
On 20 May, Arnold was posted to No. 3 Aircrew Graduate Training School at Trois-Rivièrs, Québec. The school taught survival and evasion techniques that would be useful to aircrew if they were ever shot down or bailed out behind enemy lines. This was the last stop before proceeding overseas.
Arnold transferred to No. 1 “Y” Depot at Lachine, Quebec, on 18 June 1944 and was processed to proceed overseas. He embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia, aboard the SS New Amsterdam on 25 June. The boat was scheduled to leave in the evening. Below deck, the men felt the engines start up and figured they were on their way. By morning, many of the men felt unwell and suspected it was due to the rough seas. At daybreak, a few men decided to go up to the deck to see if the doctor could give them anything for seasickness. To their surprise, they were still docked. Many of the men had become sick with dysentery. Arnold was ill for the entire trip. Freddie Johnston, a sailor also from Lakefield, was aboard the ship and teased Arnold about the situation for decades. On 3 July, Arnold disembarked in the United Kingdom and was assigned to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre, 64 Base, RCAF Overseas while awaiting his posting.
After processing, Arnold was posted to RAF Honeybourne to join No. 24 Operational Training Unit (24 OTU), Royal Air Force on 25 July 1944. Here he flew in Wellington bombers with various different pilots. He also flew alongside his cousin’s husband, fellow air gunner, Mark Bredin. Before their first operational sortie, it was decided that Arnold and his Mark should separate. If their plane was lost, it would cause their family too much grief. The pair agreed and a coin was flipped, “he went, and I stayed” Arnold explained. He was posted to his crew in late summer 1944 and served alongside them for the duration of the war. Mark was killed with 419 Squadron on 15 March 1945. Another crew member, navigator James Rinahan, was killed during training at 24 OTU. He had volunteered for a flight with another crew, which accidentally crashed on 23 August 1944. In England, Arnold was shocked to run into Bob McCracken, a friend from the small village of Lakefield who became an air force pilot.
Arnold served as mid/upper gunner alongside his pilot, Flying Officer D. Pleiter, navigator Flying Officer J. A. McLaren, wireless operator Flight Sergeant A.C. Fisher, bomb aimer Flying Officer M. A. McGregor, rear gunner Flight Sergeant C. H. Stokes, and flight engineer Sergeant D. McDonough. Their Lancaster was nicknamed the “Tall & Terrific” and had a blonde pinup girl painted on its side.
Arnold became attached to the 6 Group Aircrew School at Dalton, Yorkshire, on 1 November 1944, where he learned about escape and evasion techniques that would prove useful if he ever found himself behind enemy lines. He was then attached to 1666 Heavy Conversion Unit on 15 December 1944 and began flying in Lancaster bombers. The conversion unit had another local friend, Bernard “Bernie” Arthur Burrows, a pilot who was later killed on 25 March 1945 during operations with 408 Squadron. Arnold was promoted to Flight Sergeant on 5 February 1945.
Once advanced training and conversion were complete, Arnold and his all-Ontario crew were posted to 433 Porcupine Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force on 17 February 1945. The crew began flying operationally in March 1945 and had a busy month. Arnold’s logbook is missing many pages after eight decades, but still contains the outlines for various bombing raids over Germany, including Hildesheim on 22 March, Bottrop on 24 March, Hanover on 25 March, and a sortie to Hamburg on 31 March.
The most crucial moment of Arnold’s career occurred during his first month of operations with Porcupine Squadron. His Lancaster took off for a daytime raid on Hamburg, Germany, on 31 March 1945. The target was Blohm & Voss shipyards, where U-boats were being assembled.
The crew felt well protected during the mission due to an escort of allied fighter planes. A total of 469 bombers participated in the raid. Arnold was part of the third wave, which flew in a loose ‘gaggle’ formation. When the formation neared Hamburg, German fighter planes were sent to attack the front of the formation. The allied planes at the front shot up red flares, warning the bombers that enemy aircraft were incoming. In response, the Mustangs protecting Arnold at the rear shot forward to support the leading bombers. Not a minute later, the newly developed German jet fighters attacked. Confusion ensued. Arnold had never seen this type of aircraft before. They were small and fast, escaping the usual tracking and targeting systems of the Lancaster. The jets attacked the formation in four consecutive waves, bringing down multiple allied bombers while filling the air with bullets, fire, and smoke.
Arnold usually relied on tracer bullets to find his aim, complaining the gun sights were no good. Through the chaos, Arnold focused on one jet, aimed, and fired. His shots had hit a Me-262, which dove, trailing smoke. The obviously damaged Me-262 was chased down by three Mustangs. Arnold shot up another Me-262 as it attacked the Lancaster beside them. He hit this one too, which then also dove trailing smoke. Ultimately, the Lancaster the German jet had attacked was seen to burn and break up with no parachutes deployed. During the confusion, Arnold’s Lancaster slipped behind. They eventually caught up and moved second to last into the formation. One last wave of jets attacked before the enemy recalled their fighters.
The allied Mustangs followed the jets to the ground during their descent and prevented them from refueling and attacking again. Arnold’s Lancaster returned to the base safely with light flak damage after the six-hour-long sortie. Arnold credits the Mustangs and teamwork for saving his life that day. The official record credits the crew with one Me-262 probably destroyed and one damaged, while his logbook states one destroyed, and one probably destroyed. The victory over the Me-262 may also mark the first time a Canadian had ever been credited with a victory over an enemy jet.
During this raid on Hamburg, the Narrative of Operations indicates seven Lancaster crews from squadrons 424, 428, 429, 431, 433, 434, all claimed to have destroyed or probably destroyed a Me-262 between 9:03 AM and 9:06 AM. Most accounts describe a Me-262 breaking apart and falling out of control, trailing smoke, or an Me-262 catching fire and disintegrating. The claims are likely for at least two distinct aircraft. Most of these assertions likely represent shared kills, opposed to seven separate aircraft destroyed. A further five claims of damaged Me-262s were made by bomber crews during the raid.
The Messerschmitt Combat Diary indicates that the Luftwaffe fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7) had two of its Me-262s shot down on 31 March 1945. Me-262A-1a coded 900594 is recorded as shot down and the pilot missing, while Me-262A-1a coded 900596 was shot down and the pilot was killed. While Luftwaffe records from the end of the war are often incomplete, one of these planes may correspond to the claim made by Arnold’s crew.
Sorties were almost always filled with terror. During one raid, their bomber had been found by an enemy searchlight. The Lancaster dove 5000 feet to evade the light, and Arnold’s ears didn’t react well, causing him to lose most of his hearing for two weeks. Their plane was also hit by flak or enemy bullets more than once. Fortunately, the flak never caused any severe damage to the aircraft.
At extreme altitude, the plane’s mechanics and the enemy were not the only danger. Bombers would experience freezing temperatures at high altitudes. Arnold would bundle up in three layers of flight suits in his turret, wearing gloves and boots. No amount of cold-weather gear seemed to be enough to stop the cold. After many hours in these conditions, he struggled to move. Icicles would occasionally form and grow on his oxygen mask as a flight progressed.
The other gunner posted to his plane feared flying the plane’s mid-upper gunner position. If the plane went down, the mid-upper rarely had enough time to bail out. The city-boy rear gunner would often freeze up in action and blame his guns for malfunctioning. Arnold mostly flew in this position and believed his fellow gunner simply wasn’t cut out for their type of work.
After watching many Allied planes be destroyed, Arnold realized that even with training and confidence in your crew, there were uncontrollable forces. He turned to prayer, carrying a small bible his mother had given him. The bible remained in his right pocket during each flight, “I would touch it and I would pray, and so many times, it was all I could do as I tried to focus as the planes crashed to the ground and bullets sprayed all around.” It brought him peace knowing that back home his mother was also praying.
Arnold and his brothers sent a portion of their wages home to their mother during the war. He allocated half his pay to be sent home. Their mother had been living off government money since their father had died and struggled during the depression. Due to the support from her boys, she lived more comfortably than she had ever before.
There were also feel-good moments during the war. Much of the Netherlands had starved during German occupation, and something needed to be done. In May 1945, Arnold’s crew was instructed to prepare for Operation Manna. They were ordered to conduct an airdrop in Holland, substituting their bombs with aid for the starving civilian population. Superiors had arranged a ceasefire with the Germans to safely conduct the operation. The squadron left immediately after receiving their orders. As they approached their target, Arnold watched civilians gather and wave up at their planes. Waving back, the crew released the food and watched on as people swarmed the drop zone. He reflected on this incredible moment of humanity. The Germans were the enemy the day before, but during a moment of trust, Axis and Allied powers united to aid a starving nation.
In April 1945, Arnold completed nearly 25 more hours of operational flying. During one operation, they were ordered to lay mines in the Kattegat Strait, a crucial German supply route between Denmark and Sweden. For some reason, Arnold’s crew was recalled during the sortie and returned with their mines. While the crew did not get to complete this sortie, it indicated the versatility of the squadron’s missions.
Arnold logged another 14 hours of operational flight in May 1945. The month was filled with atypical missions. On V-E day, their Lancaster was responsible for transporting prisoners of war from Northwest Europe back to England. The plane had issues with the hydraulic system after a load of prisoners was dropped off. The crew was forced to stay the night with no money on hand. They got a ride into town anyway to check out the pubs and realized that money was not required. Everyone was so happy the war had ended that the alcohol was freely poured. The following day, prisoners continued to be transported to safety.
After 18 sorties, including bombing raids on Hamburg, Dresden, Düsseldorf, and Cologne, Arnold and his Lancaster crew had all survived the war unscathed. They had beaten the odds, which gave Lancaster crews an expected lifespan of just 5 sorties, roughly two weeks of operational flying. The entire crew volunteered to serve in the Pacific against Japan, but the war with Japan ended shortly afterward, and they were never deployed to the Pacific.
After the war, the crew was sent on 8 June 1945 to 64 Base for repatriation. On 12 June 1945, Arnold embarked from the UK aboard the SS île de France, bound for Canada. He returned on the same ship as his brother Allan and childhood friend Eddie Morin, who had served with the First Special Service Force in Italy. The trio had known each other well growing up in the Village of Lakefield and had much to discuss on the journey home. They landed in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on 13 June 1945. He was discharged at No.4 Release Centre in Toronto on 4 September 1945. All seven of the Graham brothers returned safely from the war.
When Arnold returned to Peterborough by train, his mother spotted him and yelled out, “My baby!” Her youngest had finally returned safely. He subsequently moved back in with his mother while figuring out a civilian career. He had contemplated carpentry but decided to take a seven-month course to become a butcher. He became employed with Fitzpatrick & Geraghty Grocers in Peterborough. Not enjoying the work, he took a Department of Veterans’ Affairs course on shoemaking and repair. He moved to 582 Wentworth Street North in Hamilton, Ontario, to take the 5 ½ month-long course.
Upon completing the course, Arnold set up his shoe business in Lakefield with a store on the southeast corner of Queen Street and Reid Street. A couple of years later, he married Roberta Joan Pue at Lakefield United Church on 12 September 1949. He then built a house for his family on Regional Road #3 in Lakefield. Arnold and Joan had two children: Sally Joan, born 12 October 1953, and Paul Arnold, born 6 February 1957.
The shoe business eventually dwindled, and in 1951, Arnold decided to try something else. He worked briefly at General Electric, then took employment with The Prudential Insurance Company. In 1963, he was hired by Co-operators Insurance and stayed with them until about 1985.
Arnold’s 30-year marriage ended in 1979, and he moved to his cottage on Big Cedar Lake. In the latter part of the 1980s, Arnold opened the Graham Insurance Brokers at 8 Bridge Street in Lakefield. He was involved in a bad car accident a few years later, and due to his injuries, he sold the business to his son, Paul, and retired.
Arnold’s name is well known in the village of Lakefield. For years, he volunteered with local minor hockey, baseball, lacrosse, and target shooting. He has also been involved in the growth and promotion of Lakefield establishments, including the arena in the late 1940s, the curling rink in the early 1960s, the Legion, a lacrosse bowl at the fairgrounds in the 1960s, and the rebuilding of the arena after its collapse in the early 1970s. Arnold was one of the six guarantors in the building of Lakefield’s Curling rink, providing a letter of credit for $10,000 to complete the project.
Arnold met his partner Corinne Elaine Ducharme (née Montreuil) in Mattawa, Ontario, at a 1979-1880 New Year’s Eve party that his hunting guide set up. Corinne’s husband had died due to a heart attack in 1979. She had seven children in her previous marriage and died on 13 October 2013.
Following the war years, Arnold’s old Lancaster crew would faithfully meet every year or two until he was the only one left. In September 2013, Arnold received the newly created Bomber Command Bar, which is worn on the ribbon of the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal. Arnold spent his last years at a care home in Lakefield, on a property which his brother once owned. He passed away on 2 May 2025 at the age of 99.
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